I bought a foreclosure in 2012 and the bank freshly painted the whole house. When the fresh paint smell subsided we started smelling cigarette smoke. It's very apparent when coming in from fresh air outside. Once inside the smell is less noticeable because the nose gets desensitized. I've heard you're supposed to clean the walls first with ammonia or vinegar. Using cheap paint without cleaning tends to trap the nicotine/smoke and allow it to bleed through as nicotine is water and oil soluble I believe. Should I try to paint with a 'filtering' additive (ionic might be the brand) which should last 8-12 years or should I buy Zinnser Bin 2 Shellac based paint to seal the smoke smell? Or is there something else you recommend? Thanks :)

We've been in our house now for 10 years and the walls and ceiling in our home have never been painted except for the kitchen wall and the bathroom walls. The builder had the walls and ceilings in all of the other rooms "plastered". The walls and ceiling have plaster board upon which they put a heavy skim coat on, and on the walls in the living room there is a pretty heavy 1/4 swirl texture. The kitchen and bath walls have a smooth texture to them. After 10 years of "living" in the house, how do I begin to prep the walls? If I wash them I would wash some of the grittiness of the sand in the texture off. The texture is pretty heavy, so how can I get the grooves in the texture clean enough to support paint? The walls are bone white throughout. I don't know how to begin, but I would like to paint to freshen and add some color.